Mis geniales predecesores, volumen 4

My Great Predecessors #4

by Garry Kasparov

Un genio, Gary Kaspárov, analiza minuciosamente a otro genio, Bobby Fischer, en uno de los libros más interesantes que pueden escribirse sobre ajedrez. Son dos de los jugadores más carismáticos y revolucionarios en más de quince siglos de historia documentada, pero muy distintos entre sí. Fischer tuvo una infancia muy dura en un país, Estados Unidos, donde el ajedrez se cuida mucho en los colegios pero no es popular como profesión. Sin embargo, sus triunfos apabullantes contra las estrellas soviéticas llegaron en plena guerra fría, y eso le convirtió en un héroe nacional, que además conmocionó el deporte mental: millones de personas se iniciaron en el juego de reyes gracias a él. Cuando Fischer se proclamó campeón del mundo, en 1972, Kaspárov era un niño de nueve años, destinado por su madre a ser campeón del mundo de ajedrez, y educado especialmente para ese fin con un entorno muy favorable en un país donde ser ajedrecista era una profesión muy honorable. Es casi imposible que un jugador, cualquiera que sea su nivel, no disfrute de las partidas de Fischer. Por tanto, resulta lógico que el autor de este libro se esmere al glosar la obra del genial campeón en el volumen 4 de Mis Geniales Predecesores. Un libro imprescindible que incluye también 64 páginas de fotografías.

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Games

564 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Russian (formerly Soviet) chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, and political activist, whom many consider the greatest chess player of all time.

Reviews

[Manny · Rating 5 out of 5]

The definitive book on Bobby Fischer; what's funny is that Kasparov is simultaneously the best-qualified and the worst-qualified person in the world to write it. Here's the analogy that occurs to me. Suppose Mohammed had written a long, carefully researched book on Jesus. He'd have all these killer insights into the decisions you make when founding a major religion, and what it's like talking to God on a day-to-day basis. It would be amazing to follow his thought processes. And then he'd start criticizing. Well, Jesus is quite good, the Sermon on the Mount is admittedly an excellent piece of work, but he's very uneven. And why didn't he even consider launching a military campaign to conquer the Middle East? He could have established a power base in Galilee, and expanded from there. And really, it would have made a lot more sense to marry the Magdalene woman, plus five or six more to be on the safe side, and establish a dynasty. You'd groan.

Kasparov's rather like that when talking about the other person who has a serious claim to be the greatest chess player ever. His analysis of the games is, needless to say, beyond reproach. Anyway, I'm not silly enough to start picking at it. But then he goes on about how Fischer resigned his title in 1975 because he'd most likely have lost to Karpov. OK, I can see that Kasparov would like it to be that way, but even he can't possibly know. Fischer was completely unpredictable. If he was on form, he'd have killed Karpov the same way he killed everyone else. If he was having a mental crisis, anything could have happened. Kasparov had to work his ass off to beat Karpov, and it's impossible for him to think that someone might have swept him away without apparent effort. To an outsider, this is unfortunately obvious.

It's a fantastic book of course. But don't buy it unless you're serious about chess. Kasparov is talking more to himself than to you, and the analysis is horrendously complicated...

[Serge Pierro · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I have loved all of the volumes thus far in Kasparov's amazing series, this was the one that I was looking forward to the most, seeing as how it was Bobby Fischer who inspired my interest in chess with his world championship match with Boris Spassky. I remember watching the match on a black and white television, with commentary from Shelby Lyman, and was mesmerized by the depth and strategic thought that was going into each move that the players made… I was instantly hooked! Now we have Garry Kasparov's perspective on Fischer's play.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is that when it comes to the discussion of the greatest player of all-time, the names Fischer and Kasparov are at the top of the list, so it's fascinating to see how Kasparov balances his ego vs. that of Fischer's brilliance. He does a pretty good job of presenting Fischer, warts and all, but one can't help to see the underlying bias at times from the Soviet player. It should be noted that this is not intrusive and that it actually appears to be somewhat normal knowing the egos of both players. Kasparov knows that Fischer is the only one who could make a claim to the best player of all-time and he seems to dance around that, thus leaving an opening for those who believe that he (Kasparov) is the greatest - and perhaps he is! Both are great players and I would give Fischer and edge due to his results and his work ethic, whereas Kasparov could also deserve the top billing as the strongest player of his generation, a generation that was weened on the games of Fischer and others and played against players who had a deeper understanding of the game. Both are great, it's just interesting to note how Kasparov feels about Fischer from the perspective of his own legacy.

As a bonus, the chapters on Samuel Reshevsky and Bent Larsen were quite fascinating - especially the information on Larsen, as I had not previously read much about him and came away with more respect/interest for him as a player.

As always the analysis is top notch and the anecdotal stories are great! I'm looking forward to the next volume, as it will feature both Victor Korchnoi and long time nemesis, Anatoly Karpov. The musings about Karpov should prove to be very interesting!

[Alec · Rating 4 out of 5]

First the cover is misleading I assumed the entire focus of the book would be on Bobby Fischer's games which is why I bought it but it's not the first part of Kasparov's book looks at Samuel Resheveky Miguel Najdorf and Bent Larsens games Bobby Fischer's games are covered in the second half about 107 games including games from the 1992 rematch against Spassky.

It's a very expensive hardback $54.02 at Chapters for that price I'm disappointed more games weren't included on Fischer the quality of the annotations and instructional value of the book though is superb the second half can compliment older books that already cover Bobby Fischer's best games in detail including Fischer's own My 60 Memorable games.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book great book within an outstanding series that chronicles and analyzes chess champions throughout the history of the game. An important reference book and resource for chess students and fans.

[yolanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

i owe EVERYTHING to this book. the loml in my chess world. quite complex (for 1934 fide me, clearly i'm not a gm), but very rewarding!! it's fischer and kasparov after all